Me and my Organization (CORDS) at a glance

CORDS

 This is Gideon Abraham Sanago, a Tanzanian Maasai warrior of 32 years old born in Simanjiro at Manyara region. Currently am working with Community Research and Development Services (CORDS) as Information, Communication & Public Relation Officer. I also support the Department of Gender and Women Development Programme as a trainer in various aspects related to women.

CORDS work in Northern part of Tanzania in the region of Arusha and Manyara region and it has been playing a good role in addressing challenges facing the marginalized communities e.g. pastoralists and the Akiye minority group based in Kiteto. Some of the issues the organizations dealing with are land matters in the area of villages demarcations, surveying, village’s certification, building village’s land registries and implementing the land use planning programme in the respected villages.

            Gideon Sanago: "Am always smiling but am fame on issue"!

Other areas the organization’s support is based include poverty eradication among the 17 Maasai women groups in Kiteto, Monduli, Longido and Simanjiro through loans provision, grinding mills machine, beads work improvement and marketing availability as well as implementing various trainings to women. CORDS is also supporting the Akiye minority groups in food relief during the severe drought season; this community is actually depending on fruits, roots and honey for their subsistence. Finally we support the livestock keepers who benefit from livestock infrastructure improvement and development and moreover, the radio programme has been used as medium of voice to the voiceless-pastoralist communities aired by TBC Taifa and the programme sponsored by CORDS.

Social Media is a key to communication and dissemination purposes. The platforms such as facebook, twitter and blogs will be of more benefit to my organization’s lobbying and advocacy strategies, especially about the pastoralists and indigenous people’s rights, projects fundraising and information sharing. SOM is affordable, reliable and easy to use than any other medium of communication!

Left side is Michael Mchomvu, middle is Benjamin and the next at the rights side is me (Gideon) during the SOM sessions at MS-TCDC Dar!